Lupe Fiasco abandons rap and launches post-punk band?

Rapper Lupe Fiasco is rumoured to have started a post-punk band called Japanese Cartoons.

Fiasco, who hinted on several occasions in 2008 that he would soon retire, is still working on what he says will be his final album as a rapper, ‘LupE.N.D’.

It is now being rumoured that after ‘LupE.N.D’‘s release, Fiasco will continue making music with Japanese Cartoons, under the name Percival Fats.

Three songs, including a cover of The Prodigy‘s forthcoming album title track ‘Invaders Must Die’, have been posted on the band’s MySpace site. The Prodigy cover and original track ‘Heirplanes’ feature vocals that sound eerily similar to Lupe Fiasco‘s, although they are sung in a forced English accent.

However, blogs on the star’s MySpace sitedeny that Fiasco is part of the band.

One, posted on January 4 says: “Percival Fats (born Percival Hindenburg-Fats) is NOT Lupe Fiasco (born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco). Although he is a dear friend.”

The blog continues: “Lupe does finance the band but is not, I repeat, not, the singer in Japanese Cartoon. He is, however, the producer and we value his participation very much.”